Mega Warehouses Choking CA Region: Letter To Gov. Newsom

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — In September 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that limits warehouse employers like Amazon from setting productivity quotas on workers. It was the first law of its kind in the United States.

"We cannot allow corporations to put profit over people," Newsom said in a statement at the time of the signing.

Now, 16 months later, some in Southern California's Inland Empire are wondering whether the governor's words still hold true.

The rise of e-commerce brought unprecedented warehouse growth to the Inland Empire: 1 billion square feet and millions more being constructed at breakneck speed. With the expansion comes urgent concern about the effects that increased truck emissions from the logistics sector are having on air quality and human health — particularly in disadvantaged communities.

The call to address it got louder last month. In a January 24 letter to Newsom (see below), more than 60 organizations urged the governor to declare a public health state of emergency in the Inland Empire due to the "unchecked escalation of warehouse growth."

"In the Inland Empire, warehouse growth is one of the most critical environmental justice issues of our time," the letter states. "Our struggles have become a string of losses with human life and health as collateral damage."

The letter goes on to list alarming statistics. Here are a few:

"Over 300 warehouses are 1,000 feet or less from 139 Inland Empire schools; over 600 warehouses surround these same schools at 1,500 feet."

"The Inland Empire has the highest concentrations of ozone in the country according to the American Lung Association7 and CalEnviroScreen 4.0's most recent report."

"Diesel exhaust is responsible for about 70 percent of the total cancer risk from air pollution; cancer risk is in the 95th percentile near the Ontario warehouse gigacluster–equaling 624 people per million, which is 95% higher than the rest of the basin."

"The AQMD [Air Quality Management District] reports higher risks from PMs [particulate matter] for people who live within a half mile of warehousing facilities, where the asthma rate average is 56 per 10,000 individuals (64th percentile) and heart attack rates are 9.2 per 10,000 individuals (65th percentile). This is over ten percentile points higher than comparison areas."

While housing has been called a crisis in California, the letter states warehouses are propagating at five times [the] rate of population growth.

Not everyone has a problem with the rapid expansion, however. In a Jan. 25 commentary published by the Southern California News Group, San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman defended the logistics industry and local cities' handling of new construction projects.

He also argued that data from South Coast Air Quality Management District show "air quality emissions have dramatically improved over the past four decades while the warehouse industry has grown fivefold."

The logistics sector brings good-paying jobs to the region, Hagman said, yet a Sept. 2022 report from KCRW found that robots are doing a lot of the work at some facilities.

Developers are cheering the logistics sector in the Inland Empire. When Newport Beach-based Birtcher Development announced on Jan. 23 that construction was expected to begin in the next few months on a 330,048-square-foot distribution facility at the corner of Banana Avenue and Santa Ana Avenue in Fontana, there was reason for the company to be optimistic about the bottom line.

Birtcher is "bullish about the future of the Inland Empire's industrial market" given the number of active tenants and "limited available space with vacancy just under 1%," according to Brooke Birtcher Gustafson, managing director for the company. "Altogether, we believe these market dynamics continue to justify the need for steady growth and delivery of high-quality product in the near term."

For Californians outside of the Inland Empire, the logistics sector might not be top of mind. But the current land rush for warehouse space doesn't appear to bode well for the environment or public health across the region.

According to the letter, "pollution and carbon emissions, increased heat, traffic, and health and safety issues both in the workplace and in our communities" are on tap as the logistics sector continues to enjoy success in the Southland.

Read the full letter below:

Letter to Gov Gavin Newsom Asking for an Inland Warehouse Moratorium (1)

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